Building systems



oct. 27, 1970 H, A, LORENZ Em :535,841

BUILDING SYSTEMS Filed March 10 VENTORS WARD A.LORENZ Z/HO ROBERT H.NAGY INGVAR SCHOUSBOE ATTORNEYS United States Patent O "ice U.S. Cl.52--236 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The building system employspreformed upright erection elements, preferably of precast concrete,forming outer wall portions which extend from halfway below a floor tohalfway between floors thereabove, presenting side edges against whichthe end portions of relatively long preformed structural Walls of fullheight are swung and connected, whereby the usual need for temporarysupport for said structural walls, after they have been lowered intoposition by a crane, is eliminated. Other like erection elements for thenext floor are supported endwise on the upper ends of the rst erectionelements and secured to upper portions of the structural walls toproject halfway above the next floor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present inventionis particularly suitable for use in the erection of buildings of thetype which utilize precast concrete structural elements and walls.

Description of the prior art Heretofore in the erection of buildingswherein large, massive precast concrete walls are used, it has beencommon practice to use a crane to lower each wall into position with itslower edge resting on a floor. There is then the problem of holding thiswall in position until its ends can be connected to other structuralelements of the building. Heretofore it has been common practice formany contractors to use metal braces for temporary supporting of suchwalls in upright position. This was a lengthy procedure as it took along time to assemble the braces and attach them to the wall and floorin order to temporarily support the wall until it could be permanentlyconnected to a permanent portion of the building. During all this timewhile the braces were being connected the crane had to remain connectedto the wall to maintain it in upright position. Thus the crane was tiedup for an unnecessary length of time when it could be employed formoving other elements into position. Inasmuch as the hourly cost of acrane and its operator is very substantial, this prior procedure hasresulted in very high erection costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides, in a buildinghaving multiple floors, upright concrete erection elements forming outerwall portions of the building which extend from halfway below a oor to apoint halfway between floors. Thus when starting a new oor there arealways rigidly connected upwardly projecting erection elementspresenting side edges against which the end portions of full height3,535,841 Patented Oct. 27, 1970 precast structural walls may be bracedand connected. This eliminates the need for temporary braces and freesthe crane as soon as the wall has been swung into abutment with saidside edges of the erection walls, erection elements for the next floorabove being supported endwise on the upper ends of the first erectionelements and beiilg secured to upper portions of the adjacent structuralwa i It is a general object of the present invention to provide albuilding system which speeds the erection of buildings of the typeusing preformed concrete structural walls and elements.

A further object of the invention is to provide a building system whichsaves substantial expense by freeing the crane for further work as soonas a structural wall has been swung into proper position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a building system inwhich the erection walls and structural walls are very rigidly bracedand supported to improve the overall rigidity of the building.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists of theimproved building system, and all of its parts and combinations, as setforth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings,illustrating one complete embodiment of the preferred form of theinvention, in which the same reference numerals designate the same partsin all of the views:

FIG. l is a vertical sectional View through a building, a central partof the structure being broken away;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view on a smaller scale showing an outsideelevation of one of the outside walls of a typical building;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the improved erectionmethod at an end of a building;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary View looking down on the top of one of thefloors showing an intermediate structural wall element connected inposition to two erection elements, a central portion of the wall beingbroken away, and the dotted lines indicating a position of thestructural wall before its ends have been swung into abutment with theerection elements; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through a portion of thebuilding looking from the inside tward an outer wall.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring more particularly tothe drawing, the improved building system features preformed erectionelements 10 which are one story in height, but are staggered withrespect to the floor levels, their lower ends positioned Well below aHoor level and suitably anchored in position, and having their upperends terminating intermediate oors, as is illustrated in FIGS. l and 3.While the erection elements 10 may be of any preformed material they arecustomarily preformed concrete members of elongated rectangular shapewhich have been precast and brought to the building site.

In FIG. l is illustrated conventional footings 8 in ground 9, thefootings usually being of poured concrete and supporting foundationwalls 12. The level of the ground 9 may vary depending upon theparticular situation. The

first set of erection elements must be suitably anchored below the levelof the rst floor 11. Any suitable method may be employed for anchoringthe lower portions of the lowermost erection walls. One suitable methodis to have the foundation walls 12 formed with shoulders 13 on which thelower edges of the erection elements 10 may rest as shown in FIGS. l and3. The erection elements may be cast with nuts 14 therein forthreadingly receiving the ends of bolts 15. A suitable number of thebolts 15 may be employed to anchor the lowermost portion of thelowermost erection elements 10, which elements are to be used insupporting the first fioor structural walls 16.

The first floor 11 may be formed of any suitable material, but in thetype of building under consideration it is usually composed of elongatedpreformed concrete planks 17, preferably prestressed. The planks may besupported on the upper edges of the foundation wall as shown in FIG. 3where there are ledges 30 for the ends of the planks. In this type ofbuilding there will be a plurality of structural walls 16 which are toextend transversely of the building to divide the interior space andalso form ends of the building as in FIG. 3. They also furnish supportfor the ends of the concrete planks 17 which will form the floorsthereabove. These structural walls 16 are precast and trucked to thebuilding site. Each structural wall 16 is then lifted by a crane andswung up above the level of the floor which it is to be used, and thenlowered until the lower edge 18 of each structural wall is over astructural wall therebelow as in FIG. 5, the planks 17 being thereafterlaid in place. These structural walls 16 are relatively long and heavyand considerable difficulty has heretofore been encountered intemporarily holding them before they are anchored in place.

With the present invention the erection elements 10, which are rigidlyanchored below the floor, and which have upper portions projecting wellabove the level of the floor on which the structural walls are beinglaid, afford a novel means for supporting these structural walls.Preferably there will be erection elements 16 at the outside of' thebuilding located in a position to support a structural wall whereversuch structural walls are used. FIG. 2 shows a typical spacing on theoutside of the building between two tiers of erection elements 10.Preferably the erection elements 10 on one side of a building arestaggered with respect to erection elements 10 on the opposite side, asshown in FIG. 4. This then permits a crane to lower a structural wall 16into an oblique position as shown by dotted lines in FIG. 4, the wall 16then being swung until its end portions 19 abut against the side edges20 and 20 of the oppositely-disposed erection elements. When in the fullline position of FIG. 4, a structural wall 16 will be immediatelyself-supporting and the crane may be promptly disconnected and swungaway for further use. While FIG. 4 illustrates the two erection elements10-10' to be staggered on opposite sides of the building, and while thisis the preferred arrangement, the system can be carried out if theerection elements are directly opposite one another, and thisarrangement is required at the ends of a building. In this particularsituation it may be necessary to insert one or more tie bolts 21 beforedisconnecting the crane.

In either method one or more tie bolts 21 are inserted through preformedholes 22 in the erection elements and through holes 23 at the ends ofthe structural walls 16. Suitable nuts are threaded on the ends of thetie bolts. When all of the stuctural walls which are needed on a givenfloor have been secured in position, then the outside wall portions ofthe front and rear of the building may be filled in between tiers oferection elements 10 with suitable units filling the distance betweenfloors. In FIG. 2 there is illustrated a number of window-containingunits 25 and these may be spaced at intervals by precast wall elements26 `which are the same size and shape as the erection elements 10 butare the same size and shape as the erection elements 10 but which extendfrom one oor to 4 another and which are not located to supportstructural walls. From FIG. 2 it is clear that the erection elements 10are vertically staggered with respect to the conventional elements 25and 26.

To prepare for the work on the second fioor 27 a new set of erectionelements 10 are installed as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The lower endsof these erection elements are supported on the upper ends of the firstset of erection elements, the joint line being at 28. This line 28 isstaggered between floors. For convenience it is midway of the heightbetween floors. Thus each erection element will extend from a linehalfway below one floor to a line halfway above, as is clear from FIGS.l and 3. Conventional outside wall elements would all extend from onefloor to another fioor as do the elements 26 of FIG. 2, or would bemultiples of a story in height. After the second set of erectionelements 10 is installed and bolted to upper portions of the structuralwalls 16 by nuts and bolts 29, then another set of structural walls 16is hoisted into position by cranes and they are swung into position fortemporary support by erection elements in the manner shown in FIG. 4 andare then bolted to said erection elements. Thereafter more of the floorand ceiling planks 17 are laid to form the second floor 27. The ends ofthese planks 17 are supported on T-Shaped upper end portions 30 of thestructural walls. This procedure may be carried out from story to storyuntil the building is completed. While FIG. 1 discloses a building withonly two stories above the basement, the system may be applied tobuildings of any desired height, FIG. 3 indicating a building wherethere are more than two oors. At the top of the building, as in FIG. 1,short elements 35 are used above the last erection elements 10 and 10 tofill the space at the upper half of the top fioor.

What we claim is:

1. In a building structure including preformed massive structuralelements, said building having a first floor, having a second floorspaced above said first floor, and having supporting means for saidfirst floor located below the same, upright erection elements secured tothe supporting means for the first floor below the floor level andprojecting upwardly with upper ends terminating intermediate said firstand second floor levels, a structural wall projecting upwardly from saidfirst floor at right angles to said erection members and having an upperportion forming a support for said second floor, means securing ends ofsaid structural wall to side edges of erection elements on oppositesides of the building, and other erection elements supported on theupper ends of said first erection elements and secured to saidstructural wall below said second fioor level and having upper endsabove said second fioor level and terminating less than a full storydistance above said second floor level for use in temporarily supportingand anchoring second floor structural walls.

2. A building structure as claimed in claim 1 in which each erectionelement is of full story height with its ends midway between oor levels.

3. A building structure as claimed in claim 1 in which tie bolts securethe walls to the erection elements.

4. A building structure as claimed in claim 1 in which at least one ofthe supporting walls has an erection element on one side of the buildingwhich abuts one of its sides and an erection element on the other sideof the building which abuts its opposite side.

5. In a building erection system for multistory buildings, the steps ofsecuring erection elements which form outside wall portions of thebuilding in vertically staggered relation with respect to a floor levelto provide rigid erection elements on opposite walls of the buildingwhich have upper ends terminating intermediate said first floor leveland a next fioor level, and installing structural walls by bringing eachstructural wall into upright position with respect to said first fioorlevel by use of a crane and swinging it to a position where one endabuts a side edge of an erection element on one side of the building andwhere the other end abuts a side edge of an erection element on theopposite side of the building, securing said abutting portions to eachother and installing erection elements for the next floor endwise on theupper ends of the rst erection elements and securing them to upperportions of the adjacent structural wall.

`6. A building erection system as set forth in claim 5 in which eacherection element is one story in height.

7. A building erection system as set forth in claim 6 in which -theerection elements are placed so that the upper end of each erectionelement is midway of the distance between oor levels.

8. A building erection system as set forth in claim 5 in which, for atleast some of the structural Walls, the

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,045,522 ll/ 19 12 Conzelman52--236 2,057,444 10/1936` `OReilly 52-234 2,497,887 2/1950 Hilpert52-282 JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. XR.

